Senator Cáit Keane said the Eucharistic Congress, which is scheduled to be held in the capital's Phoenix Park in June, to be put off in the light of the row over the Vatican's attitude to clerical child sex abuse inquiries in the republic.

She said she backed suggestions from a group of rebel Catholic priests that one of the largest liturgical Catholic events be postponed.

Speaking in the Irish parliament, Keane said: "I support the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland's request to postpone this event as I believe it is not an appropriate time for an event such as the Eucharistic Congress to take place in this country.

"I believe that everyone will be better served, given the sensitivities around the findings of this report, that it be held at a later date.

"The association has over five hundred ordinary priests as members in this country who are not afraid to speak out on the injustices and wrongdoings in the Church, and we must support their efforts to stand up and be counted."

The planned Eucharistic Congress for Dublin was being billed as a precursor to a possible papal visit by Pope Benedict – the first since John Paul II's successful trip to Ireland back in 1979.